A reponse to global warming skeptic John Stossel

December 2, 2009

By Virginia Noel

ABC News reporter, John Stossel, has stated that he doesn’t fear global warming. In March, at a gathering of climate change skeptics, he criticized coverage of climate change by the “socialist media.” He finished alerting the audience to the scourge of global warming “scare mongering.” He encouraged the audience to dispel the idea of global warming, not with facts, but by treating scientists as dumb. He finished by saying, “Some of scientists are brilliant, but can’t talk worth a damn…” Harsh speech and not really fair because scientists state facts after making sure they are true through long studies.

There are not just sound reasons to believe in global warming, human kind is at a critical point—what we do and don’t do will affect the well being of generations to come. To Stossel and other skeptics we can say with certitude:

There is no debate among scientists about the basic facts of global warming. The most respected scientific bodies have stated unequivocally that global warming is occurring, and human activities are causing it. The primary culprits are burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests. Stossel should pay heed to these facts.

The only debate in the scientific community is regarding how fast warming will continue as a result of heat-trapping emissions.

Scientists have given a clear warning about global warming and its possible effects. To ignore these warnings is dangerously fool hearty.

To retort Stossel’s speech about his disbeliefs in scientists reports here are some facts:

Scientists have shown that the human activities are pumping more CO2 into the atmosphere than has been released in thousands of years. Greenhouse gases, such as CO2, warm the air, which in turn traps more heat and accelerates warming.

This building of CO2 is the largest contributor to global warming.

We can’t afford to ignore the effects of mankind’s damage to the planet. Even if some people find a way to adapt, most will perish as the wildlife and plants on which we depend disappear. While the world itself will not end, the world as we know it may not support life as we know it.

In conclusion, the answer to Stossel and skeptics that debate the possibilities that global warming: global warming is no longer hypothesis or speculation but a certainty. Scientists are no longer disputing the causes of global warming but rather they continue to study just how fast it will progress and how colossal the damages will be.

It is time to act. Global solutions need to be implemented. Hiding our heads in the sand is neither constructive nor sane. It’s time to get serious and pay at the pump, so to speak.